Born: November 18, 1900, Daytona Beach, FL

Education: Morehouse College, B.A. valedictorian, 1923; Rochester Theological Seminary, M. Div., 1926; Kent Fellow, Haverford College

Died: April 10, 1981, San Francisco, CA

Revered author, minister, mystic, and prophet, Thurman's teachings on nonviolence and peace inspired seminarian Martin L. King, Jr. In 1989 a panel of scholars ranked Thurman one of “the 50 most important figures in Black American history.”

Nonviolence and human kinship were core precepts in his theological and social ethics. In college he joined the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), attracted by its focus on pacifism and racial equality. Leading a “pilgrimage of friendship” to India in 1935, he had “a three-hour visit with Mahatma Gandhi,” whose uses of nonviolent civil disobedience to resist British colonialism and secure India's independence powerfully influenced him. He emphasized Gandhian principles in theology courses at Howard School of Religion, where dean Benjamin Mays and seminarian James Farmer integrated them in FOR's “sit-down” protests at segregated restaurants and a mission for the nascent Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).

Morehouse College honors Thurman's memory with a seventy- three-foot bell tower that contains his remains and a chapel. Located beside the Martin Luther King, Jr. Chapel, it is surrounded by a reflecting pool and eight eagle-inscribed flags. Recorded sermons and speeches are accessible in the chapel's listening room. Today, more than 100 Thurman Listening Rooms are available at colleges, churches, and prisons.